Crater Lake

 Sunday August 29, 2021 - We got to Crater Lake around noon, after a 3 hr drive from the rest area.  We checked into our campsite at Mazama Campground, which is part of the park system.  The campground has around 200 sites, some with electric (ours doesn't), and they are all large, nicely separated, with lots of trees.  

 

We decided to do the 33 mile rim drive, to get oriented to the park.  There are many pull offs to see the lake, each with their own unique view. Crater Lake was formed 7700 years ago when the volcano Mazama, erupted. The caldera that was left after the explosion filled with precipitation.  There are no streams that run into the lake so there is very little sediment to cloud the water, making it the purest water you can find. The lake level is very consistent and varies by only a few feet.  Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the US at 1943 ft.  It holds 5 trillion gallons of water.  Wizard Island is a large cylinder cone, that was formed during the volcanic eruption.  Usually you can take a boat to the island, but there is no boat service due to COVID.  

Our first view of Crater Lake

We took a detour off the rim drive, to Pinnacles road.  This is a 6 mile road out to Pinnacles overlook.  There was a 1 mile hike to view the Pinnacles, which are chimneys formed when hot ash cooled after the eruption.

Pinnacles (fumaroles)

Next we did the Plaikni Falls trail, which was a 2 mile hike, out to the falls and back.

Plaikni Falls

lots of wild flowers

As the day went on it got smokier, and by evening it even smelled like smoke.  The air quality hit a high of 220.   The drive back into the campground was especially smokey.

 

Monday, August 30, 2021 - We got up early today to drive out to a sunrise lookout.  The air quality was better than yesterday (only about 180), but it was still pretty hazy.  Not the best sunrise pics, but still pretty cool.

The tip of Wizard Island, on the left, poking up above the smoke

The reflection of the sun on the lake, looks like fire

Since it was so hazy, we decided to do a few hikes that were close to the campground.  We road our bikes to the Annie Springs trailhead.  This was a half a mile hike straight up the mountain, once at the top it linked up with the Pacific Coast Trail.  This part of the PCT was relatively flat, and quite scenic through lots of old growth 100 ft trees.

PCT marking with a reflector, for night hiking.  Not quite as iconic as the AT white blaze hand painted by diligent trail maintainers :)

Now we can say we've hiked the PCT!

After lunch we hiked Annie Creek trail, a 1.7 mile hike down the canyon behind our campground.  There was a nice pamphlet that we took with us, and read about various things along the trail as we hiked.  It was a beautiful hike along the creek, and the hike up the canyon was a lot, but well worth it.

more pinnacles along the creek

Drive Through Idaho into Oregon

 Saturday August 28, 2021 - We left the Tetons early Saturday morning and decided to stop at the Jackson Laundromat.  We got a couple of quick loads done and headed to ID.  Around lunchtime we stopped in Idaho Falls and had lunch in the van and a nice walk along the Snake River.  Then off to Walmart for groceries and a gas station to fill the propane that we use for heating when we're off grid.

River Walk in Idaho Falls

That lure ought to catch some big fish

We drove a few hours more, then decided to change the oil in the van and then found a local park for dinner.  It was a great day for running all of our errands.

Dinner in a Boise park

We didn't have any reservations until Sunday night in Crater Lake, so we found a few options for free sites, using the Campendium App.  In Oregon they allow people to stay overnight in rest areas, unlike many states.  The trip from Boise to the rest area was rather crazy.  It was in the middle of NOWHERE.  We started to see how remote this road was, and looked ahead to see where the next gas station was, and realized that the only gas station in the next 150 miles, was closed for the night (it was 7:00).  We had passed through a small town 15 minutes before and decided that we needed to turn back and get gas.  We made it to the rest area we had chosen around 10:30 and immediately went to bed.  It had been a 15 hour day.

Sunset, through our bug spattered windshield, on the very very desolate road in the high desert of Oregon

Sunday morning after sleeping in the Sage Hen rest area

  

 

  

Last Day in the Tetons

 Friday, August 27th - We got up at 6:00 AM and decided to go out looking for wildlife.  It didn't take us long to find 3 moose, right in the field next to the campground entrance.  We took a few shots there and headed down the road to see about 15 antelope cross the road in front of us.  We drove down Jenny Lake Scenic Drive and enjoyed the lookout.  Then off to Signal Mountain, which has a very windy road to the top.  It was a great time to drive this as there were very few people there.  At the top, we were able to see two elk fighting down below. 

Bull Moose outside our campground

looks like a good day for views of the mountains, that means lots of pics

The pink sun hitting Grand Teton first

Antelope crossing the road

Jenny Lake scenic drive

Top of Signal Mountain

More views from the top of Signal Mountain

Sorry, I can't get enough pics of these mountains

 Last stop was back to Jenny Lake for a hike.  We took the boat shuttle to the other side and hiked up to Hidden Falls, Inspiration Point, then hiked for about 30 min on the Cascade Canyon Trail, then turned around and headed down the Bypass trail, past the boat dock and walked the 2 miles back along the Jenny Loop Trail (a 7 mile hike in total).  We're going to sleep well tonight.

Hike up to Inspiration Point

Inspiration Point

Hike to Hidden Falls

Hidden Falls

Cascade Canyon Trail

Lunch on a rock